Uncoupling mechanism for car couplers



Aug. 23, 1932. J. WILLISON UNCOUPLING MECHANIESM FOR CAR COUPLERS Filed Sept. 16, 1926 I 5 Sheets-Sheet l I.NVENTOR.

A my??? Aug. 23,1932. J. WILLiSO N 1,873,092

UNCOUPLING MECHANISM FOR CAB COUPLERS Filed Sept. 16, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR. wm w flaw Aug. 23, 1932. J. WILLISON 1,373,092

UNCOUPLING MECHANI SM FOR CAR COUPLERS Filed Sept. 16, 1926 5 Shqats-Sheet 3 I nvwzzvron Aug. 23, 1932. J. WILLISON 1,873,092

UNCOUPLING MECHANISM FOR CAR COUPLERS Filed Sept. 16, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 V EN TOR.

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23, 1932- J. WILLISON 1,873,092

UNCOUPLING MECHANISM FOR CAR COUPLERS Filed Sept. 16, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 A TTOR EY JOHN WILLISON, on SHAKER HEIGHTS, omojAssrGnoR'ro NATIONAL MALLEABLE Patented Aug. 23, 1932 UNITED ST AT-ES" PATENT OFFICE AND STEEL GASTINGS COMPANY, 01? cLnvEL nn, OHIO, ZA CORPORATION or OHIQTI uNcoUrLmG MECHANISM FoRcAR couPLERs ApplicationfiledSeptember 16, 1926. Serial No. 135,711. i

The following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which 7 Fig. 1 is a view in perspectiveof a coupler and adjacent parts of a carstructure equipped with uncoupling mechanism and showing the parts in uncoupling position; Fig. 2 is a view partlyin side elevation and partly in vertical section of the device shown 0 in Fig. 1, with the parts of the uncoupling mechanism shown in non-operating position; Fig. 3is a view in end elevation and vertical section of the device shown. in Fig. 1,with the parts again shown in inoperative-position;

b Fig. 4: is a plan View of a pair of interengaged couplers of the type showniniFig. 1 Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig.2 showing a modified form of the invention; Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showingthe modified form 0 of the invention; Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing still another-modification; and Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing the modified form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 7. r I

My invention relates to. releasing or uncoupling mechanism for railway vehicle couplers of the type in which a: tight coupling connection is provided. In this type of coupler, in connection with which spring buffer members are provided on the confront:- ing ends of the. vehicle frames, a very substantial tension is continually maintained between the coupled members through the compression of the buffer springs, in order'to prevent slackness or looseness between the connected cars. The taut condition thus existing between the engaged parts gives rise to considerable difficulty in releasing the tightly held locking mechanism to disengage the coupler parts in performing the uncoupling operation. My invention has for its object the provision of means by which the uncoupling operation can be easily and effectively carried out. In order to accomplish this object an actuatinghand wheel is provided for convenient operation by an, at 7 Q tendant without entering between the'ends of adjacent cars. The hand wheel is mounted on a shaft journaled at its outer end in a bearing mounted on a corner portion of the car framework and extending transversely to-a point below and adjacent f'tO the coupler.

structure. .The inner end of the shaft is at.- tached to a chain anchoredto arigid part at its other end so that rotation of theshaft by the hand wheelbrings about bodily movement of the .end of the shaft to produce, through suitable connections, corresponding movementof the coupler locking mechanism. In a preferred embodiment of the invention,

the connection between the hand wheelshaft.

and the lock releasing mechanism takes the form of a chain attached to a 'section of the shaft differing in diameter from the section l '65 to which the anchoredchain is connected,so that a differential winding actionis produced by the rotation of the shaft to produce a powerful leverageefiect which is utilized in the actuation of the release ,rnechanism. Other features of the invention will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to thedrawingsiiforwa more dc:- tailed description 'of the invention, in Figs. 1, 2 and '3 a coupler member lOm-is shown mounted on the endof a car structurell, the couplerbeing flanked vo'n either side by resilient buffer members12 which are coinpressed when the coupler devices of'adjacnt cars are interlocked to produce-a co-upledrelationbetween cars which is free" from slackness or looseness. 1 '9 The snugness or tightness of the coupled relation which is brought "aboutbythe compression of the buffer members to bring the coupling devices: into interlocking relation is substantial, amounting to a pressure of two or three tons. 1 This substantial pressure between the interconnectedparts of the coupler mechanism gives rise to considerable ldiflir cultyin releasing the locking-mechanis1h00 which holds the coupler devices in interlocked position. p In order to utilize a releasing action of suflicient power to bring about the desired a disengagement of the coupler parts, I have employed an effective application of a differential lever efi'ect through which a sufficient- 1y advantageous leverage action is obtainedto release the coupled parts with a minimum of effort on the part of the operator.

This-.-structureg takes the form of a shaft 13 loose1y journaledat one end in a bearing support member 14 attached at 15 to an end- 1y extending verticallyjslotted;bracket member 16 attached to the car framework at 17 at 20 The verticalslot 18in the downwardly extending bracket, 16' provides for vertical movement; of the free end ofthe shaft 13 whichextends through the slot in the'bracket. flexible tensile'member in the form of a chain'19'is attached at one "end as'at 20-to the lower end 'ofthe bracket member 16 and attached atv'its other end as at 21 to the shaft 13. Withthis arrangementyit will beseen that rotation of the shaft 13fbrought' about 39 through, the'operationof ahand wheel 22 has'theeifect of winding up the chain 19 on the adjacent portion of the shaft" It will be noted that" the portion'23 of the shaft 13 on which the chain iswound has a-reduc'ed di- 'aineter relativeto the diameter "of the shaft Another c'ha-in'24g-is attached at '25 to-the "shaft1 3-at one end and at its other end 'to an arm '26 formed'on alock actuating or releasing imember27-pi votally mounted at 28 on the framework of the coupler device '10.

' The relation ofthe chain members 19 and .24 is -suc'h that whenonef'is wound on the shaft 13, the other is unwound and vice versa.

4;! A feature of the in vention is the provision of a differentialeifect produced-by causing the chain members 19 and24c to be'wound on sections ofthe shaft 13 which'have different diameters. In other words, that section 29 l5!) ofthe=sl1aft13on which the chain 24 is wound has a greater diameter than the diameter of the se'ction-"2 3 which receives the chain 19. With this structural arrangement, it will be seen that the rotation of the shaft 13' in a 6.5 clockwise direction to wind the chain 24 thereon produces a rising movement of' the free end of the shaft 13 within the vertical slot 1 8 formed in the bracket member 16. It will benotedj, however, that since the chain '8! 19 is'wound on a section of lessdiameter than thesecti'on 29 on which thechain 24'is wound,

a restriction on the upward move'mentofthe shaft'is produced which prevents the lift of the shaft ini strict accordance with the windll .ing: action ofuthe' chain'24 thereon; Thi'sre of the car. end sill. Theother end of the shaft in the, form, of thefinvention shown; Figs. 1, 2 an'd 3 extend's through a downwarda. point to the rear of th'e' couplerstructure;v

striction on the upward movement of the shaft 13 by the restraining action. of the chain 19 produces a pull on the chain 24 which has the effect of pulling downwardly the arm 26 of the lock releasing member 27 from the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings to the position shown in Fig. 1, thereby releasing the lock member 30 and bringing about the desired uncouplingof the interengaged' coupler parts. This pull on the lock releasing member, which isiproduced as. a result of the "difierenti'al' winding of the two chain members 1.9 and 24 on the shaft 13, is extremely powerful and the result is thata relnaively -inodera-te. efiort ap al-ied tof the rotation of the hand wheel 22 effectsthe lock releasing;actiongazlth ongh the pressure existing between the interengaged parts is relatively enormous...

Upon the release of the hand wheel 22 following the accomplishment of the lock withdrawing action, the weight of the free end of the shaft 13 will cause the shaft to drop back to the: lower end' of the slot 18, thereby unwinding the chain 24 and-winding the chain 19'in,p1ace on the section 23 of'the shaft. This unwinding ofthe chain 24, which is automatically accomplished, releases the lock releasing'member 27 st that a counterweight 31 formed thereon rotates the member 4 from the withdrawn position shown in Eigil to the position shown in Fig.

am which 'the l ockingmember 30 .of the coupler structure has resumed its normal pog sition."

'Itwill be noted: that in the rotation ofthe shaft 13 in ja'clockwise'direction to effect the lock releasing operation, the shaft member 13 rolls alongthe'inner surface 32 of the forward part'of the bracket 18' thereby fa cilit'ating the operation oftheparts by-the elimination of friction which is achieved thereby. Y It with be'nbtedrthat' a-certain further ad vantage of lever structure i sattained' in the attaching of the restricting chain member 19 to the outerhend of the shaft whilethe operating chain member25 is attached tothe shaft at a point inside-the point of connection of the chain19fthereto. Itwill be seen that since; their portion of the shaft to-whichthe -chamfl9 is attached hasthe'greater travel andpi's further from the fulcrum pont'at the bearing 14, anadvantag-e' as to" power is obtained 111 :the operation of the chain 24.

This advantage'is added to: that-alreadyreferred to in the differential structure, further tending to the .operationbf the releasing mechanism :with aniin-imnm expenditure of guscular energy applied to F the T hand wheel In the modified form 'ofi the invention shownin Figs. 5 and 6a shaft-member 3'3 and a hand wheel 34 iLI'GE employed as the structureaslreadyrdescribed. In thisiform ofthe invention instead of "making use of the difits:

ri o not ferential effect, the free or inner end of the shaft 33 extends through the lower endof an arm 35 pivoted at its 'upper'end at 36 to the car framework. A chain 361 is attached at one end to an eyebolt 37 ailixed to the carframework 38 and is connected at its other end to the shaft 33. A pull or retracting member 39 is attached at one end to the arm 35 and at its other end to a lock releasing member 40 carried by the coupler mechanism 10. a

With this arrangement, the operation of the lock releasing member 40 is accomplished by rotating the shaft 33 in either direction so that the chain 361 is wound thereon with a resulting swinging of the pivoted arm 35 from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 5 to the position shown in dotted lines, thereby producing a pull on the retracting member 39 to correspondingly move the lock releasing member 40 and produce the desired uncoupling action.

Still another form of the invention is shown in Figs. 7 and 8 in which the shaft 33 is passed at its free end through an end of a bell crank lever 41 pivoted at 42 in a downwardly extending bracket 43 mounted on the car framework 38. The other end of the bell crank lever 41 is connected to a pull or retracting member 44 which is attached to the lock releasing member 40. A chain 45 is connected at one end to the car framework 38 and at its other end to the shaft 33. In operation rotation of the shaft 33 in either direction produces a winding action of the chain 45, thereby bringing about vertical swinging movement of the horizontally extending arm of the bell crank lever 41 and producing a corresponding movement to the left of the upwardly extending arm 46 of the bell crank lever to produce the desired pulling action on the retracting member 44 to operate the lock releasing member 40.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any mechanical equivalents of the features shown and described, or portions thereof, but recognize that various structural modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What I claim is 1. In an uncoupling mechanism for car couplers, a lock releasing member, a rotatable shaft, a bearing support on a corner portion of the car structure in which the shaft is journaled adjacent one end thereof, the other end of the shaft being extended to a point adjacent the coupler mechanism and having a capability of translatory movement in a direction transverse to the axis of the shaft, a tensile member attached at one end to the free end of the shaft and at theother end to a'fixed part at the'side of the shaft remote from the coupler," a reduced section in the shaft on which said tensile member is adapted'to be wound, and'another tensile member attached at one end to the shaft and Y wound, whereby the shaft may be rotated to I wind the tensile member "connected to the lock release member and to effect a pulling action thereon through the differential action of the winding'operationsl I 2; In an uncoupling mechanism for car couplers, a lock releasing member, a rotatable shaft, a bearing support ona corner portion of the car structure in which the shaft is ournaled adjacent one end thereof, a downwardly extending vertically slotted bracket member mounted on the ear framework to the rear of the coupler device, the other end of the shaft extending through said slot, a flexible tensile member attached at one end to the free end of the shaft and at the other end to the lower end of the bracket member, and another flexible tensile member attached at one end to the shaft and at the other end to the lock releasing member, the shaft section on which the tensile member attached to the bracket is wound having a less diameter than the section on which the tensile member con-v nected to the lock releasingmember is wound, whereby a differential effect is produced when the shaft is rotated to wind the tensile member connected to thellock releasing'member and I a pulling action on the lock releasing member is achieved. j

3. In an uncoupling -mechanism for car couplers, a lock releasing member, a rotatable shaft, a bearing support on a corner 7 portion of the car structure in which the shaft is journaled adjacent one end thereof, a

downwardly extending vertically slotted bracket member mounted on the car frame-u' work to the rear of the coupler device, the other end of the shaft extending through said slot and having a reduced section in the portion protruding'through the bracket member, a tensile member attached at one end to the reduced portion of the shaft and at the other I end to the lower end of the bracket member,

another tensile member attached to the shaft at the other side of the bracket and attached at the other end'to the lockreleasing member, and a hand wheel mounted on the end of the shaft adjacent the bearing support; 3

I 4. In an uncoupling mechanism for car couplers,ya lock' releasing member, a rotatable shaft, a bearing support on a corner portion of the car structure in which the tionprotruding through the bracket member, a a tensile member attached at one -.end to" the reduced portion of the shaft and-at the other end to the lower vend of the bracket member, a tensile'member attached at one end. to the shaft at, the other side of the bracket and attached at the other end to the lock releasing member, anda hand wheel mounted on .the end of the shaft adjacent the-bearing support, said shaft being arranged to roll along the rearward surface: of; the forward wall of the bracket when. the tensile member connected to, the lock releasing member is wound thereon, the upward movement of the shaft in the slotbeing restricted by the I tensile member attached to the reduced section whereby a pull is transmitted to the lock releasing member to operate the same.

-5. In an uncoupling II13Ch2LI1lSIIl-OT car couplers a lock releasing member, a rotatable shaft having one end mountedfor translatory movement in a direction transverse to its axis, a flexible memb'erconnected at one end to the shaft and at the other end to a fixed part whereby translatory movement is imparted 'to the end of the shaft upon rota-' tion thereof, and a connection between the shaft andthelock releasing member, said connection'being such that the translatory movement of the end of the shaft is utilized thereof, and a connection between the shaft and the lock releasing member, said connection act-ingqin conjunction with the translatory movement of they shaft end to increase the mechanical effectiveness ,of the force transmitted to the lockreleasing member- 7. In an uncoupling--mechanism for car couplers, a lock releasing member, a rotatable shaft, a bearing support in which the shaft is journaledjadjacentone end thereof, the otheriendof the-shaft being free to partake of translatorymovement in a direction transverse to the axis of the shaft, a flexible tensile member attached at one end to the free end of the shaft for winding thereon and atthe other end to a fixed part, means for rotating the shaft and with said tensile member controlling the translatory movement of the free end thereof, and a connection between the shaft at a point outwardly from the free end of the same and the lock releasing member, said connection being such that the translatory' movement of the end of 0. the shaft is; utilized: to increase the' mechanithe lock releasing member-. v

8. In an uncoupling-mechanism for car couplers, a lock-releasing member, a rotatableshaft, a bearing support on a corner portion of the car structure in which the shaft isjournaled adjacent one end thereof, the other end of the shaft being extended to a point adjacent the coupler mechanism and having a capability of translatory movement in a direction transverse to the axis of the shaft, a flexibie" tensile member attached at one end to the free end ofth'e shaft and at the other end to a fixed part, a h andwheel on the end of the shaft adjacent the bearing support, anda pull connection between the free end of the shaft and the lock releasing member, said tensile member and said pull connection-engaging portions of the shaft having different dia1neters,the tensile member and pull connection being wound upon the shaft in reverse directions whereby translatory' movement of the shaft is utilized to 1 and members being constructed and arcal effectiveness of the forcetransmitted to ranged toprovide a differential means for V causing a powerful pulling action on; the member connectedto said coupler.

10. In an uncoupling mechanism for car couplers, a lock releasing'member, a rotatable shaft mounted for bodily movement in a direction: transverse to its axis, connecting means between the shaft and lock-releasing member to actuate thelock releasing mem ber upon rotation of said shaft, and means disposed between the shaft'rand a fixed-part toenable bodily movement of the shaft upon rotation thereof, said bodily movement being in such direction as to retard the action of the, connection between the shaft the lock releasing member. V

11. In an uncoupling mechanism for car couplers, a lock releasing member, acrotatable shaft, a bearing support in which the shaft is journaled adjacent one end thereof, the other end of the shaft being free to partake of translatory' movement in a direction transverse to theaxis of the shaft, a flexible tensile member attached at one end to-the shaft and at the other end to said lock releasing memberand adapted to be wound upon said shaft upon rotation thereof to actuate said lock releasingmember, and cooperating means including another tensile member adapted to be wound uponanother portion of said shaft and extending betweenthe shaft and-ca fixed part, the relation being such that rotation of. the shaft causes oneend of the shaft to swing in a direction serving to retard the lock releasing action.

12. In an uncoupling mechanism for car couplers, a lock releasing member, a rotatiable shaft mounted for bodily movement in a direction transverse to its axis, a flexible tensile member attached at one end to the .shaft and atthe other end to said lock releasing member, and cooperating means be-- shaft in producing the lock releasing action.

JOHN WILLISON. 

